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Tristan looks surprisingly empathetic. “I don’t want to be on the receiving end of Roman’s wrath any more than you do.” He turns his concerned gaze on Hollis. “We talked about this.”
“It’s complicated?—”
Tristan holds his hand up. “You think I don’t know that? Hiding this isn’t going to make it less so. I’m not here to give you two a lecture. You’re adults and you can make your own decisions. I need to grab Bea’s laptop and get back home before she wakes up.” He pauses on the way to Rix’s room. “I know it’s not the same situation, but please don’t make the same mistakes I did.” He disappears down the hall to Rix’s room.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll talk tonight,” Hollis assures me.
I trust that Tristan won’t tell my dad, but he has a point. When shit went sideways with those two, it really went sideways. I don’t want that to happen to us. But there’s no way out of this without someone getting hurt.
CHAPTER 31
HAMMER
“My calves are so tight,” Tally announces. She’s lying on the living room floor of Hemi’s apartment with her legs stretched against the wall, index fingers wrapped around her big toes.
“You are ridiculously flexible,” Rix observes.
“And sore. We practiced for four hours yesterday, and we still didn’t get the routine down.” She does a backwards somersault and crosses her legs, sitting upright. “But we’re close. I just want a strong finish to my senior year.” Tally attends an arts school and is a competitive dancer. Outside of attending hockey games, school, and spending time with us, that takes up most of her spare time.
“You’ve got this,” Hemi says with conviction. “We can’t wait to see you kill it.”
“You don’t all have to come,” Tally says.
“Pfft.” Hemi makes a circle motion with her finger to encompass our group. “We’re your Babe Brigade. We will support you one-hundred-and-ten percent, one hundred percent of the time.”
“This,” I agree.
“Does that mean you’ll come visit me in the dorms next year?” Tally asks cheekily.
“Oh girl, we’re moving you in,” Dred says.
“I’m kind of super excited for you,” Rix adds.
“Speaking of university, have you heard back yet about that program you applied for?” I ask Rix.
She shakes her head. “Not yet. But I applied late, and there’s a waitlist, so we’ll see.” After much prodding from Tristan, Rix finally applied to the food and nutrition program at the university in Toronto. “But I am taking another class with Eliza Van Horn this spring, so it’s something.”
“I hope you get in so we can be in university together,” Tally says.
Rix smiles. “That would be a lot of fun.”
“Frankly, I can’t wait for you to graduate, so you can finally become my full-time assistant.” Hemi points a finger at me.
“I still have to apply for the position, though.”
“You’re the perfect candidate,” Shilpa assures me.
I voice one of my major concerns. “I just don’t want it to look like I got it because of my dad.” I keep the part about dating a player to myself.
“You have literally stepped into the role this semester by handling all aspects of planning one of our biggest charity events. You are so very qualified. But if you think it would be better to work somewhere else, I’ll understand,” Hemi says gently.
“I looked at other options for my internship, and other job postings, in case the position doesn’t pan out, but honestly, I just want to be part of the Terror.”
“It makes sense to me,” Shilpa says. “I was already married to Ash when I joined the organization, but they’re very much your family.”
“Yeah.” I run my hands up and down my legs, considering what it will be like to work for the team while also being involved with Hollis. It feels impossible that it could actually happen. All the lying and hiding and sneaking around has felt so necessary up until now. And with so many pivotal things happening in my life, I can’t imagine how my dad will handle all the secrets I’ve been keeping from him these past months. The potential fallout makes me feel sick.
“You worried about something else?” Hemi eyes my anxious hands.
